2000-04-22: Celtic 1-1 Hibernian, Premier League

Trivia

The man who brought us "Artur Jorge is the new Celtic coach" announced that Guus Hiddinck was signing the contract. Hugh Keevins in his Sunday Mail column jumped the gun as ever. However, the negotiations with Hiddinck had reached contract and money stage and Jim Hone continued talks with the Real Betis coach. The situation was tense as Betis were in a relegation dogfight.

On the 17th Tommy Burns was despatched to Seville to meet and talk with Hiddinck. It suggests that the briefing and concerns of Hiddinck must have extended to team rebuilding and therefore the size of the budget he would require which would all feed into whether or not he would take the job and the resources that would be needed and whether MacDonald would be able to deliver them.

So far Kenny Dalglish as Director of Football appeared to have played no direct part in the negotiations with Hiddinck. As a Director and Head of Football he would have had a say in the initial approach and terms offered to prospective candidates for the Head Coach's position. It was assumed in some quarters, based on Hiddink’s past track record, that Dalglish would need to step aside should the Dutchman be appointed. Dalglish quite rightly stated that he had not been given the time to do the job he was appointed to as Head of Football, that the job still stood, that he was currently working as interim Head Coach and would do so for as long as was required but that he would return to his position as Head of Football and Director. The two strategies appeared to have some conflicting elements.

Given the reports which allegedly emanated from Celtic Park and the everlasting feed of stories to the Press it looked like Celtic had more leaks than a sieve. Dalglish in particular appeared to be seriously fed-up with this and vowed to root out the leakers to the press – however it looked like one of the main sources was his own Chief Executive.

The SFA General Committee met to discuss Allan MacDonald’s remarks about bringing in a behavioural psychologist to study Hugh Dallas’ actions when refereeing. MacDonald was asked to appear personally at a future meeting of the SFA to explain his remarks.

Tom Boyd’s season was over after undergoing further back surgery.

Review

As activities continued off the park around the signing of a new coach, the weary fare offerd up by the first team continued on the park. This draw gave the championship to Rangers with five games left to play. The fans on the day were not happy and Regi Blinker came in for a massive amount of stick from the stands.

Articles

Pictures

Stats

Celtic

Hibernian

Bookings

2

5

Red Cards

0

0

Fouls

8

14

Shots on Target

6

7

Corners

5

1

Offside

3

2

Miserable Celtic send Rangers to Paradise

Scotland on Sunday 23/04/2000By Graham Spiers at Celtic Park

Celtic1 Hibernian1 THESE must be as mean and depressing times as even the lugubrious Kenny Dalglish can recall in a long while. Parkhead yesterday was a bleak house of doubt as this shambling Celtic display provoked moods of anger and resentment. When a team plays like this, and the audience rounds on them, even past idols such as Dalglish cannot be spared the vitriol. It had been a bad enough week for Dalglish, with the realisation probably dawning that his lucrative role around these parts may be endangered by Guus Hiddink, never mind a result like this which duly handed the championship to Rangers. The title arithmetic from Celtic's standpoint has grown shabbier by the week, but not even their most ardent supporter, sitting in this stadium back in sun-splashed August, could have imagined the ghost would be up with five games and 15 points still outstanding. In the tear-jerking decade that most Celtic fans call the 1990s, it was appropriate that this abject game should seal such a colossal mess for the club. But no football match should be dismissed or demeaned by simple reference to one team. For Alex McLeish and Hibs, this was a rewarding day. There was a passion about McLeish, stamping and jabbing fingers around his dugout, and a heated eagerness running through his team which was nicely wedded to skill. Kenny Miller might have been goalless for seven weeks, but his darting run and angled shot, which was palmed clear by Jonathan Gould in the second half, said much about Hibs' display. As for Russell Latapy - as if it needs saying -this player is boundless in energy and invention. It must be painful, though, for Celtic supporters to witness the brutal limits of their team's endeavour. Whenever Regi Blinker, for one, took the ball in midfield, eyes were shielded, but not before they had watered over at the anarchy that usually ensued. It is also in vogue these days to suggest that Stilian Petrov isn't quite the poor performer we first thought, though this young Bulgarian's style and demeanour seem irredeemably cumbersome. Petrov, though, played here as an unlikely striker, a fate handed to him due to the mysterious absence of Mark Viduka. We didn't imagine, given Dalglish's curmudgeonly approach to team news, that anything about this absence would come forth easily. Before this match, someone had even uttered the dreaded line about Viduka having once more jetted out to Australia. But this was tosh. Viduka had flu. And Dalglish was quite open about it. "He's at home - ill," he said, graphically. In the end, it took a gallivanting Stephane Mahe run and shot in the 79th minute to restore Celtic's parity, Hibs having deservedly gone ahead through Stuart Lovell in the first half. In defence of Dalglish, no Tom Boyd, no Alan Stubbs, no Viduka and of course no Henrik Larsson, meant this Celtic side had been emaciated in every sense. Of all of these players, the galvanising Larsson, of course, seemed to take away the team's spirit when he departed through injury last year. There will be no cheer louder at Parkhead next season than that provoked by the moment when this Swede returns. Of the rest of this Celtic squad, there is a patchwork of dubious talents which may have to be disposed. Paul Lambert, for one, was certainly quite brutal about this last night. "We need the new guy [the head coach] to be here soon," said Lambert. "And if that guy wants to off-load, then so be it. If the new coach says to me or anyone, 'sorry, but you've got to go', then that must happen because no player is bigger than the club." Lovell's goal after 30 minutes - flinging himself to head the ball home from Dirk Lehmann's knock down at the back post - left Celtic Park morose. Happier times, it can only be assumed, are still four months away.

Manager Interview

Kenny Dalglish post match:We had to put square pegs in round holes but there are some right good players here and the club made positive moves by bringing them here. "As for the decisions on players' futures, that will be dictated by their performances on the pitch.''

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